Improvement in valves for torpedo-boats



NrrD T A Jouir L. LAX, orBUFrALo, New reen.

.IMPROVEMENT 'iN VALVES Fon -Spenetien musing' garter Lieters Poter le. 2E7.1'250.'ila1tes1 Joly 1, 181* June 5, 1879.

To all irhom 'it 'muy' concern:

lle it known that I, JOHN L. LAY, of Buffalo, New York, temporarily residing at St.

' Petersburgh ,Itussiinh ave invent ed certain new and useful .improvements in Valves for'lorpedo-l-ioats and other lfm-poses, of which the ibllowing isa spcciiication.- l A My present'jnvcntion relates to certain iinprovenients in the internal;mechanism of submarine torpedoboats, of theelass that are guidedl and controlled by an operator outside the li'oatthrough the mediuni of electric wires `0i' cables, but are propelled vby ail engine ou board by means of condensed gas'- stored in a suitable reservoir. lSuch vessels are shown and described, in'l whole or in part,'

in two patents granted to ine in Decenuiber, 1877, and 1n three patents granted January in the latent. Oiiice, to which reference is made,: to show the general construction of such-a vessel es I designiiny present improvement to be applied to..

The specific devices for'whioh I 'desire to secure protection in the present application are the valves and Valve-connections, which enable me to. ,use 'carbonicecid gas,.aruinoniacal'.

gas, condensed air` under high pressure, or siinilarexpansive gases, for the propulsion of a submarine vessel. i

`It is well known that the rapid expansion of gases underprcssure has a tendency to produce s ueh a degree of cold ,(or absorption of heat) as to congeal any moisture in its neighborhood, and even to congeal the gas itself, when it is compressed into liquid forni. It is in part to, overcome this tendency to freezing, and in part to 'reduce the high pressure in the rcservoirto such e. degree es 'will econo- `mize it, aud-Work the engine only'ot a.'inod crate ,prcssure,':that I. have devised the pres` ent system of valves, which l will now proceed to describe.

The features' which 'I believe to be new with me Iare hereinafter pointed out in the claims.

Figure l is a 'section of a portion of atorpedo-boat, showing'the arrangement of pipes and Valves between the reservoir and the engine. Fig. 2'is a longitudinal, and Fic. 3 a cross, section of a valve which may be used et A, Fig. l. Figs. e and 5 are s imilerseov tions of alvalve which may be at Brit. Fig. 6 is the throttle-valve, as at o7. Figui is a valve which I sometimes use at Aft* in lien of theone shown in Fig. L. Fig. 8 is e. Weterinlet valve, as ate, Fig. l.

Similar letters in the drawings indicate cor 'responding parts.

I i is a gas-reservoir, in which gas is stored under great pressure. A tube posses through this reservoir to connect the water-tight conlpart'nients et each end thereof, and to permit the passage of wires, Ste., for the transmission of electric currents. It will be understood that seawater has free passage through this tube when once I.idrnitted to the compartment A?.

The gas-pipe c leads from the reservoir L toword the engine. When the stop-ooclc a* is opened, as it will be before starting the boat, the gas liasses through t to Ati?, where its pressure is reduced. lt then passes through a? to BH, where the pressure is still further reduced. The ges there passes still fart-her oward the engine through pipe e3, past e sa'iety valve at a, to the throttle-Valve al, and on to .the engine F in duc course.

TWhen the .throttlevalve is open to4 permit gas tmenter the engine, it also has access to the pipe el, and by its pressure on thespriugf e opens thevalve o9, which permits the seawater to enter the vessel through pipe 12, to restore the equilibrium which would otherwise be lost by the escape' of spent gas from the engine.

l l I t ino be remarked that the "fas from the 'or generator to the engines. A. oyiiuder'or hex, bl, contains an internal cylinder, b2, and. spaces or passages b3 exist between these cyl' ieders. The outer cylinder or box, bl. is conl -subsauaaly as described, im gaan am external and am iute'na Wnde; having GEQRGE EQHGHT, passages bet-Ween the tw0 ,zmp1ston Walking v E. fl 

